The Cowgirls have lofty expectations this year after returning all five starters and six seniors after a season that saw them reach the Great 8 in the WNIT (Women’s National Invitational Tournament). After attending the WNIT for three seasons straight in the Heather Ezell era, the team is ready to finally break the WNIT trend and make the jump to the NCAA (National College Athletic Association) tournament.
“WNIT is really fun, but we’re kind of sick of it. The NCAA tournament is kind of something that we’re looking for this year and I think it’s very tangible for us,” senior guard Emily Mellema said.
Mellema is one of six seniors and five starters to return this season. She is also joined alongside the preseason co-player of the year in the Mountain West, Allyson Fertig. Those two, along with Ola Ustowska, Tess Barnes, McKinley Dickerson and Malene Pedersen round out the group of key returners who will be looking to spearhead the effort to become Mountain West tournament champions this year.
Ezell created a schedule to challenge these Cowgirls during their non-conference, as five teams on their schedule were a part of the 68 team NCAA tournament field just a season ago. Ezell scheduled similarly to their non-conference last year, which led to the Cowgirls having a 5-6 record heading into Mountain West play a year ago. However, that challenging schedule allowed them to earn the #3 seed in the Mountain West tournament.
“It’s the expectations we have for this program and where this group should be at now. We tried to take those steps last year, I know we came short in a few of them, but now it’s when we have that experience, we know what it takes to beat those kinds of teams,” Ezell said of the schedule.
The team is also up for the challenge, as they know just how difficult the Mountain West will be this season and how much these tough non-conference games will benefit them down the line.
“Anytime you can go and play really good teams in the non-conference, it prepares you for conference [play],” Mellema said.
While this squad brings back a plethora of experience from a season ago, the Cowgirls also added a number of freshmen and a pair of transfers that will hope to have an immediate impact.
Payton Muma and Logann Alvar come to the Cowgirls via the transfer portal. Muma enters the team after spending two seasons with Gonzaga, where she saw little minutes due to the depth on the team. Alvar comes to the Cowgirls after two seasons with Casper College, where she was a solid piece in the Thunderbirds’ efforts in making the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) tournament.
“I think the biggest thing is they just have college experience…they’ve played at that level. They understand the commitment, the pace of the game, the strength of the game, all those pieces,” Ezell said of her transfer duo.
The Cowgirls have also added a number of international freshmen with their most recent recruiting class, as Ezell and her staff have found a knack for recruiting players overseas, as the roster features seven international players.
“It’s a lot of credit to our fans, they treat our players like they’re daughters and to have that support when you’re so far from home, it really creates that connection,” Ezell said.
Kati Ollilainen, one of those seven international players, alongside Madi Symons, had notable first year campaigns last year and Ezell hopes to see them step up in place of the production that they did lose from last season.
“The big one with Kati is she was never really healthy last year. She played a handful of games, but it was never 100%,” Ezell said of Ollilainen.
“Madi, I think she brings a toughness, she has the ability to guard a lot of different people and get rebounds. We’re still trying to get her to score a little bit more,” Ezell added of Symons.
With all these pieces coming together along with their experience in their starting lineup, the Cowgirls are poised to have a memorable season and look forward to being able to do so together. The seniors, especially, are just grateful to have another year to get to play with one another and prove that they have what it takes.
“They’re my best friends,” Mellema said of her teammates. “It hasn’t hit me yet that my journey as a basketball player is coming to an end soon.”
The Cowgirls will open up their season with a strong opponent on November 4, hosting Colorado, a team that was in the Sweet Sixteen last season.
